Antarctica Shaking With Over 50,000 Quakes In 3 Months, Snow 'Apocalypse' In Japan

Why is Antarctica shaking like crazy? More than 50,000 earthquakes in 3 months baffle scientists

Strange Sounds

...more than 50,000 tremors have rocked Antarctica since the end of August. Such an impressive spike in seismic activity has never been witnessed by scientists.

A major M6.0 as well as thousands of other small quakes were all detected in the Bransfield Strait, a 60-mile wide (96-km) ocean channel between the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula.

Although several tectonic plates and microplates meet near the strait (and thus frequent rumbling), the past three months have been unusual, according to the University of Chile.

“Most of the seismicity was concentrated at the beginning of the sequence, mainly during the month of September, with more than a thousand earthquakes a day,” the center said.

The shakes have become so frequent that the strait itself, once increasing in width at a rate of about 7 or 8 mm (0.30 inch) a year is now expanding 15 cm (6 inches) a year.

“It’s a 20-fold increase … which suggests that right this minute … the Shetland Islands are separating more quickly from the Antarctic peninsula,” said Sergio Barrientos, the center’s director.

So what’s behind this earthquake uptick in Antarctica?

There is no clear answer to that geological phenomenon yet. But here some suggestions based on previous similar events.

Could it be linked to a volcano forming underwater? As seen in the second map, the Bransfield Strait contains volcanoes and volcanic areas. Just remember that the formation of a new volcano near Mayotte was responsible for a strong earthquake swarm.

Snow apocalypse forces thousands of drivers to sleep in their cars in Japan

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A snow apocalypse is currently hitting parts of japan.

Within three days more than 2 meters (6.6 feet) of snow accumulated on the Niigata and Gunma prefectures, isolating communities, disrupting powers for tens of thousands of households and stranding more than 2,100 cars on a highway.

Self-defence forces were called out to provide food, blankets and fuel to motorists after sudden record snowfall stranded hundreds of cars on the Kan-Etsu Expressway between Tsukiyono town and Yuzawa town, north of Tokyo, on the coast of the Sea of Japan.

More than 2,100 drivers were trapped inside their car for 17 hours and were forced to spend the night in their cars. At one point the line of vehicles stretched for 16.5km (10 miles).

Some even had to keep removing snow from the exhaust pipe to prevent potentially deadly fumes from entering their car.

“I hardly slept, and I was worried because I had absolutely no information about the situation. I haven’t eaten since last night, and I don’t have much water left. I don’t have any information on what is going to happen. I’m exhausted. I want to lie down and rest in a futon soon,” a man who was driving to Tokyo from his home near Niigata.

Some areas of the country have seen record levels of snow. The heaviest snowfall was centred on Niigata and Gunma prefectures, which had about 2 meters (6.6ft) of snow over three days.